What's Wrong With the Apple V. Samsung Win?

The recent $1 billion judgement against Samsung creates one real loser, and it isn't Samsung, according to this post on the Findlaw Blog. The real loser is the smartphone industry, and anyone who considers standardize user interfaces a good thing for usability. From the article:

At a minimum, the case could prevent Android makers from designing a product whose appearance is too similar to Apple's iPhone. Design features like the double-tap to zoom, the fact that icons will snap into place, and the shape of the phone itself are all part of the iPhone and iPad aesthetic.
Samsung's designs were found to infringe patents for all of those features, reports Ars Technica.

So imagine using an iPhone, double tapping, expanding to zoom, and then trying to learn an Android device that is required to create a whole different set of user interactions. Fewer people would be likely to switch, reducing competition and (most likely) innovation.